Captain John Smith explored this region in 1608. The town of Occoquan began with the opening of a tobacco warehouse on the shore of the Occoquan River in 1734. Occoquan grew as the focus of the commercial and manufacturing activities of John Ballendine, who had an iron furnace, forge, and sawmills at the falls of the river before 1759. After the American Revolution, Occoquan emerged as a flour-manufacturing center with one of the nation’s first gristmills to use the laborsaving inventions of Oliver Evans. In 1804, Occoquan was established as a town and thrived as a commercial and industrial center into the 1920s.

Statement of Significance as stated in National Register of Historic Places Registration Form

The site of a tobacco warehouse as early as 1736, the present town of Occoquan in Prince William County arose in the late colonial period as the focus of the commercial and manufacturing activities of John Ballendine, who erected an iron furnace, forge, and two sawmills at the falls of the Occoquan River prior to 1759. The settlement at Ballendine’s “Occoquan Works” emerged after the Revolution as a prosperous flour manufacturing center, which boasted one of the first grist mills in the nation to employ the labor-saving inventions of Oliver Evans. While the silting of the river gradually reduced Occoquan’s stature as a major Northern Virginia shipping point, the town continued to thrive as a center of commerce and industry into the 1920s. The district contains a visually interesting collection of mostly vernacular residential and commercial structures dating from the late 19th and early 20th century, preserving a port village image of that period. Although most of the older buildings have succumbed to the ravages of fire and flood, the few individual survivors from the antebellum period or before include three major landmarks: Rockledge, an elegant Georgian house with elaborate woodwork erected by John Ballendine in ca. 1760; the Mill House, a late 18th-century to early 19th-century dwelling associated with the nationally known Occoquan Flour Mill; and the Hammill Hotel, built ca. 1830, which served as the headquarters of General Wade Hampton during the Civil War. A natural stopping place and crossing point for travelers moving north or south between Richmond and the nation’s capital since the early 19th century, Occoquan with its marine facilities and restored waterside shops and restaurants remains an important travel destination for Washington area tourists.

Merchants Mill (1755–1924)

This Mill, also known as Merchants Mill, was extremely advanced for its time. After the building was purchased by Quaker Nathaniel Ellicott, it was upgraded with the newest technology. It is believed that this was the first automated gristmill in America. Merchant’s Mill became fully a automated grist mill. The grain was completely processed from barge or wagon to the mill and returned to the carrier with the aid of one man. George Washington used this automated operation as a model for the Mount Vernon Grist Mill.

It was Nathaniel Ellicott’s brother, Thomas, an associate of Oliver Evans, who designed the large flour mill at Occoquan incorporating Evans’ improvements described in The Young Mill-Wright and Miller’s Guide of 1795. Plate XXII in Evans’ book shows Ellicott’s plan for the Mill at Occoquan, with Ellicott’s caption, “This is a mill of my planning and draughting, now in actual practice, built on the Occoquan River in Virginia …,,This mill stood in Occoquan and was in full operation until its destruction by fire in 1924. Old photographs of the ruins of the mill show the general design of Ellicott’s building. The ruins are barely visible to the northeast of the stone miller’s house. Below is an excerpt from The Young Mill-Wright and Millers Guide by Oliver Evans, Thirteenth Edition, 1850.

Practical Instructions for building Mills, with all their proportions, suitable to all falls, of from three to thirty-six feet. Received from Thomas Ellicott, Mill-wright.

In the new way, all these inconveniences and disadvantages are completely provided against: (See Plate XXII.,) which is a representation of the machinery, as applied in the whole process of the manufacture; taking the grain from the ship or wagon, and passing it through the whole process by water, until it is completely manufactured into superfine flour. This is a mill of my planning and draughting, now in actual practice, built on Occoquan River, in Virginia, with 3 water wheels, and 6 pairs of stones.

If the wheat come by water to the mill, in the ship Z, it is measured and poured into the hopper A, and thence conveyed into the elevator at B, which elevates it, and drops it into the conveyer C D, which conveys it along under the joists of the second floor, and drops it into the hopper garner at D, out of which it is conveyed into the main wheat elevator at E, which carries it up in the peak of the roof, and delivers it into the rolling-screen at F, which (in this plan) is above the collar beams, out of which it falls into the hopper G, thence into the short elevator at H, which conveys it up into the fan I, from whence it runs down slanting, into the middle of the long conveyer at J, that runs towards both ends of the mill, and conveys the grain, as cleaned, into any garner K K K K K K, over all the stones, which is done by shifting a board under the fan, to guide the grain to either side of the cog-wheel J; and although each of these garners should contain 2000 bushels of wheat, over each pair of stones 12000 bushels in 6 garners, yet nearly all may be ground out without handling it, and the feed of the stones will be more even and regular than is possible in the old way. As it is ground by the several pairs of stones, the meal falls into the conveyer at M M M, and is conveyed into the common meal elevator at N, which raises it to O; from thence it runs down the hopper-boy at P, which spreads and cools it over a circle of 10 or 15 feet diameter, and (if thought best) will rise over it, and form a heap two or three feet high, perhaps thirty barrels of flour, or more at a time, which may be bolted down at pleasure. When it is bolting, the hopper-boy gathers it into the bolting hoppers at Q and attends them more regularly than is ever done by hand. As it is bolted, the conveyer R, in the bottom of the superfine chest, conveys the superfine flour to a hole through the floor at S, into the packing chest, which mixes it completely. Out of the packing chest it is filled into the barrel at T, weighed in the scale U, packed at W by water, headed at X, and rolled to the door Y, then lowered down by a rope and windlass, into the ship again at Z.

If the wheat come to the mill by land, in the wagon 7, it is emptied from the bags into a spout that is in the wall, and it runs into the scale S, which is large enough to hold a wagon load; and as it is weighed it is (by drawing a gate at bottom) let run into the garner D, out of which it is conveyed into the elevator at E, and so through the same process as before.

The Merchants Mill was burned by an accidental fire from the power company next door. (The Millers office was not destroyed and now houses the Mill House Museum.)

The ruins of the Merchants Grist Mill owned in the late 18th century by Thomas Ellicott and developed by him into a mill of international fame. Ellicott improved upon the inventions of Oliver Evans, Millwright of Philadelphia, who assisted George Washington in the construction of the mill at Mount Vernon. Ellicott’s mill had three water wheels and six pairs of stones and was oriented so that wheat could be delivered by ship or wagon.

Rockledge, Mill Street

Rockledge was the home of builder, John Ballendine and later of Thomas Ellicott who developed Merchant’s Mill to such a high state late in the 18th century. The Ellicott family imported an English tutor, John Davis, to superintend the education of their children. Davis kept an extraordinarily interesting and colorful diary. “Occoquan,” he wrote, “consists of a house built on a rock, three others on the river side, and a half dozen log huts scattered at some distance. He found the settlement “romantic beyond conception” and spoke of the hills as “mountains.” The house site is carved out of a rocky ledge, hence the name. In front there were small garden terraces. Building and retaining walls are fieldstone. The main block is two-and-a-half stories with gable roof and dormers. Chimneys are of brick, likewise the one-and-a-half storied wing and spring house. This wing on kitchen appears to have subsequently joined to the main building. It still contains bake ovens where the owner’s flour was baked into bread and biscuits for commercial distribution. The house is distinguished by its bold and handsome modillion cornice across the front. Inside there is simple woodwork comprising six conventional mantels, chair rails, baseboard and cornices in the principal rooms.

Hammill Hotel, built ca. 1830

The hotel achieved fame in the Civil War as the headquarters for Confederate General Wade Hampton during several skirmishes with Union troops in the area. Union forces were able to fire upon Occoquan from an elevated camp across the river on the Fairfax side and succeeded in destroying the Janney’s cotton mill.

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July 1860: The Occoquan Flag Incident at Rockledge a Taste of Things to Come

An introduction to the heated emotions of the era can be found in the village of Occoquan, just within Prince William County on the border with Fairfax County. On July 4, 1860, as the November presidential elections were drawing closer, a group of Republicans got together on the Rockledge property and raised a political banner embossed with the names of Abraham (Abram) Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin. The group paraded with their muskets and threatened anyone who voiced disapproval of their Liberty Pole.

George Potter of Fairfax, captain of the Sixteenth Virginia Militia, wrote to the adjutant general in Richmond on July 18 asking if the pole and flag, having been raised in a Southern state, should be pulled down. Captain Potter and his neighbors saw this as a bold step toward abolition. The letter was forwarded to Governor John Letcher, who on the twenty-third sent a dispatch to Colonel William G. Brawner of the Thirty-sixth Regiment of Prince William County. The governor wrote that if the people tolerated the banner, the governor had no authority in the matter. But if the arms being used belonged to the state, they should be confiscated and returned to Richmond.

When the Prince William County officials next met in Brentsville at the county courthouse, it was decided that the flag and pole were an insult to the people of Virginia; therefore, the offensive banner should be removed. The decision was made to send troops to Occoquan on July 27 to guarantee that the Liberty Pole and Lincoln Banner were destroyed. One of the Republicans, William Athey, when he heard of the intended flagpole destruction, wired Governor Letcher for protection of the property and people of Occoquan. He pleaded that the good people of the village were about to be descended upon by a mob of three hundred men from a distant part of the county at noon on Friday the twenty-seventh because of their political opinions.

The governor’s office fired off a message to General Eppa Hunton of Prince William County. General Hunton was told that as attorney for the commonwealth it was up to him to maintain civil obedience, and if he determined this was not possible, then a military force should be called out in sufficient number to maintain it. Athey’s request was not well received in Richmond, and the governor’s office said the entreaty by Athey to protect the traitors who had raised the Lincoln Banner was “about the most consummate piece of impudence and audacity that has ever come under our notice.”

The Prince William Militia, led by Captain William W. Thornton, arrived at 3:30 p.m. on the twenty-seventh,’ arranged themselves silently around the Liberty Pole and remained so during the events. The U.S. flag was flying along with the Lincoln Banner, but the hopes of protecting their freedom with the Stars and Stripes were dashed. A company of forty soldiers led by Captain Fitzhugh soon followed the militia. The soldiers formed in a square around the pole, seemingly ignoring the militia from Brentsville.

Joseph Janney, a local miller and merchant, stepped forward and asked that his property be protected. Janney argued that he did not hold the same opinions as the Republicans but insisted that he had approved the use of his property. A number of people had signed a petition requesting the protection of the flagpole and presented it to Captain Thornton. The request was ignored, and when the command was given, James W. Jackson of Fairfax came forward from the troop formation and gave the first axe blow to the pole. The Republicans stood around and jeered the soldiers, and when the destruction of the banner and pole was complete, the troop departed, taking the U.S. flag, Lincoln campaign banner and pole pieces with them to Brentsville. Others in the crowd displaying Southern sentiment applauded the soldiers at the removal of the flagpole and standards.

That evening, there was a personal confrontation between Colonel Brawner, who resided south of Occoquan, and Mr. Janney. It was said that Janney did not have any better outcome in this showdown that ended in blows than he’d had in the one earlier in the day. The crowd went home as night approached, but the village of Occoquan had gained a reputation as a home for Republicans and abolitionists. In the November 1860 presidential election, only 55 votes were for Lincoln, out of 1,042 total votes in Prince William County. All of those Lincoln votes were cast in Occoquan. In comparison, Lincoln had received 2 votes in Alexandria County, 24 votes in Fairfax County and 11 votes in Loudoun County. Other Virginia localities, such as Clarke, Culpeper, Frederick, Madison, Orange and Stafford Counties, had cast 0 votes for Lincoln. Also, Mr. Jackson will make an important appearance later in our narrative.¹

Occoquan continued to flourish throughout the 19th century. Both commercial and residential structures remain from the mid-19th century. The ca. 1830 Hammill Hotel, located in the center of the district at the intersection of Commerce and Union streets, is a square, three-story building constructed of five-course American bond brick beneath a hipped roof. Another mid-19th-century building is the Back Stage Dance Supplies Store at 205 Union Street. The main block of the building dates to ca. 1850 and was built as a Quo-story, frame residence sheathed in German siding surmounted by a gable roof.

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The Civil War Comes to Occoquan

DECEMEBER 12, 1861 – USS Harriet Lane and USS Stepping Stones

USS Stepping Stones was a steamer purchased by the Union Navy during the early part of the American Civil War. She was used by the Union Navy first as a dispatch boat, and also as a gunboat assigned to patrol Confederate waterways.

On December 12, 1861, the U.S.S. Harriet Lane shelled a foraging party two miles above Occoquan Bay. The ship Stepping Stones went into the Occoquan to reconnoitre and “was fired at with musketry and some field pieces, which was returned from a howitzer. The vessel was hit by two or three musket balls only; got three miles up the creek in 4 feet of water.

On the 20th Lieutenant Wyman, of the Potomac Flotilla, reported: I have been informed … that a gunning sloop has been in the habit of passing around into the Occoquan, and selling whiskey… I am informed that the enemy’s force does not extend on this side of the Occoquan River, but that they have built a fort a short distance below the Occoquan Mills.

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FEBRUARY 3, 1862 – Reconnaissance to Occoquan Village, Va.

Report of Colonel Stephen G. Champlin, Third Michigan Infantry.

HEADQUARTERS PICKET GUARD, February 4, 1862.

SIR: I have the honor to report that the reconnoitering party sent out early yesterday morning returned about 3 p.m. The party was commanded by Captain Lowing, and consisted of Lieutenant Brennan and 34 men from Company I, and Lieutenant Ryan and 44 men from Company H. They took the road leading by Millstead and went as far as Burker’s, intending to push up as far as Burke’s Station and then pass over to Brimstone Hill, returning by way of old Ox road; but the storm was so severe that the captain did not think it advisable to continue farther, so turned off to the left, and passing the house of Williamson, went down to the river side opposite Occoquan Village. The river side was reached through a ravine through which the road passes.

Arriving on the shore of the river, the road turns sharply to the north, while a precipitous rocky bluff of near 100 feet high rises immediately behind, leaving only room for the roadway. Upon nearing the river Lieutenant Brennan and 10 men were thrown forward to reconnoiter. He saw but few men in the streets of the village on his arrival, and those seen appeared to be squads of unarmed recruits drilling. The scouting party was soon discovered by the enemy and the alarm given, when armed men rushed out of the houses and opened a fire upon the party. Captain Lowing then came up and ordered the fire to be returned. Three rounds were fired, when the men, being too much exposed and having accomplished the object of their mission, were ordered to retire, and returned by way of Pohick Church.

The falling snow prevented objects from being distinctly seen. Four of the enemy were seen to fall, however, and were carried off by their comrades. Great confusion seemed to prevail. The enemy were evidently taken by surprise. Owing to the difficulty of getting the men under cover Captain Lowing did not deploy his men, but brought them through the ravine in sections of eight men abreast, delivered his fire in this order, retiring from the right and left to the rear, thus exposing the head of the column, the balance being hid in the ravine through which they approached the river. The men delivered their fire deliberately and filled to the rear without confusion, acting with coolness and courage throughout.

A camp of the enemy was seen below Occoquan and on the south side of the river. No fortifications were seen. The range of vision was limited, however, by the falling snow. At the corner near Mrs. Violet’s house a cavalry picket post was discovered, but the pickets had fled up the old Ox road. They found a good common tent there, in which the pickets had sheltered themselves. They destroyed the tent, as they were too much exhausted to bring it away with them. With the exception of his, no picket post was seen.

Captain Lowing was informed at Barker’s that the enemy kept a picket post at the saw-mill between Barker’s and Burke’s Station. I am inclined to believe that the old Ox road is picketed by cavalry from Fairfax Station to Mrs. Violet’s, though I have no certain information of the fact.

On the return, four of Captain Lowing’s men becoming so exhausted that they could travel no farther, he directed search to be made for horses on which to mount them. He found two horses in a barn near a deserted house. The owner of the horses could not be ascertained, so he took these horses and mounted the exhausted men on them, and they rode them in. He now inquires as to what disposition he shall make of the horses-whether to hand them over to the brigade quartermaster or to return them to the place from whence taken.

Just before Captain Lowing returned, and when he was in the neighborhood of Pohick Church, heavy firing of musketry was distinctly heard in the direction of Parker’s, on the Pohick road. The firing lasted several minutes. I am inclined to think that it was between two detachments of the enemy, and who met at the cross-roads, probably mistaking each other for Captain Lowing’s party. I shall request the officer who relieves me to ascertain if possible the cause of this firing.

I strongly second the views of Captain Moses in relation to pushing the right of our line of pickets out to the Springfield road. The advantages are, it gives a stronger line of posts, is more easily and more securely picketed, while in the rear, along the whole line nearly, is strong ground for the pickets to fall back upon if forced from their position. It will take fewer men, thus giving stronger reserves at the threatened points.

I have the honor to be, your obedient servant,
S. G. CHAMPLIN,
Colonel, Commanding Third Michigan Volunteers.
ISAAC MOSES, Assistant Adjutant-General.

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DECEMBER 18, 1862 – SKIRMISH ON THE OCCOQUAN, VA.

HEADQUARTERS, January 31, 1863.

Respectfully forwarded to the Adjutant and Inspector General. I with pleasure call the attention of the Department to Major White, who seems to have captured 77 men during his expedition, in addition to the enemy killed.

R. E. LEE,
General.

DECEMBER 19, 1862.-Skirmish on the Occoquan, Va.
LIST OF REPORTS.

GENERAL: Cavalry of Hampton’s Legion, 150 strong, at Snyder’s Ford, and 100 at Occoquan Ferry, destroyed the boat at Occoquan. We have driven them from both places, and they then retreated toward Dumfries. They left precipitately and left the trains that they had captured. I will camp in company with Colonel Rush, near Violet’s, on the Telegraph road. From the fact of its being cavalry of Hampton’s Legion, we infer there is a strong force back of it.

We will scour the country and hold our own to-morrow. We will have to build a new boat or go to Wolf Run Crossing; in either case we have not forage or rations enough to reach General Burnside.

CAMP NEAR STAFFORD COURT-HOUSE, VA., December 27, 1862.

COLONEL: In accordance with instruction from Headquarters Eleventh Army Corps, I have the honor to report that on Thursday, the 18th December, 1862, in compliance with Special Orders from Headquarters Defenses of Washington, I marched with my command from the end of Long Bridge, opposite Washington, D. C., to join this army. Having been informed by the commanding officer of the detachment of Second Pennsylvania Cavalry doing duty at Accotink, Va., that his pickets extended to the river at Occoquan, I was marching at the head of my column, on Friday, 19th December, 1862, about half a mile from the river Occoquan, on the ferry road, when I was fired into by the enemy’s pickets. I had been informed but five minutes before by our own pickets. I had been informed but five minutes before by our own pickets on the road that all was quiet in front. I halted the column long enough only to send forward an advance guard and flankers, and then pushed on to the river. When I reached it, I found the ferry-boat sunk and the enemy’s carbineers, who occupied the town on the other side, made the road to the ferry very warm. As it was impossible to cross here, I withdrew my men around the bend of the road, out of fire.

The enemy had been busy up to the time I arrived at the spot in ferrying over the river a Government train and some sutlers’ wagons. The presence of my command saved the wagons, which had not yet been crossed, consisting of 9 Government wagons and 3 sutlers’ wagons, making 12 in all.

Not knowing the country, and depending on a guide [Mr. Stiles] furnished the command at Alexandria by General Slough, I lost some time, unavoidably, in finding out Snyder’s Ford. I would say here that the guide [Mr. Stiles], by his own carelessness in going ahead of the command without any permission-whatever, was captured by the enemy at the river. Leaving part of my command on the ferry road, I moved with the rest of the command up to Snyder’s Ford, drove in the enemy’s pickets stationed there, and tried to cut off his rear.

On account of not knowing the country and roads, and my regiment being so new, never having been drilled, and having had their arms only three or four days before we left Washington, I could not effect as much as I might have done with older men; besides, there is not a carbine in the regiment, and consequently in a wooded country I was obliged to move carefully. I scouted the country in all directions some 5 or 6 miles, and my advance guard ran into the enemy’s rear guard, at about dark, on the road from Occoquan toward Dumfries. The enemy were then retreating at a gallop. As soon as it was quite dark, I deemed it advisable to recross the river and go into camp, starting out 600 men at daylight the next morning to Maple Valley, Wolf Run Shoals Ford, and in the direction of Brentsville. The country was thoroughly scoured, but could find nothing of the enemy. The enemy burned one of the Government wagons in the town of Occoquan, and but for the delay consequent on losing my guide, I would have been able to save more of them.

In reference to the number and part of our cavalry [Tenth New York] captured, I know nothing about them from observation, but it was reported to me that the picket was taken at or near the Neabsco Creek, half way between Occoquan and Dumfries, and that it consisted of a lieutenant and 30 men of the Tenth New York Cavalry. It was also reported to me that 5 men of the Second Pennsylvania Cavalry were captured at the ferry.

The officers and men of this command behaved very well; in fact, better than could have been expected. In all that I did I consulted with Colonel Rush, of the Sixth Pennsylvania Cavalry, who happened to be with me with 100 of his men.

I am, colonel, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
JOSIAH H. KELLOGG,
Colonel Seventeenth Pennsylvania Cavalry.
Colonel MEYSENBERG,
Assistant Adjutant-General, Eleventh Army Corps.

No. 2. Reports of General Robert E. Lee, C. S. Army.
FREDERICKSBURG, VA., December 21, 1862.

General Hampton, who was sent to the rear of enemy, penetrated Occoquan; reports Slocum at Fairfax, Geary at Manassas, and a large force at Dumfries; Sigel at Stafford. He captured 30 of Sigel’s wagons, 20 others on the road, 200 prisoners, and brought off nearly everything. Enemy reported to be fortifying near Union Mills.

R. E. LEE.
Hon. JAMES A. SEDDON,
Secretary of War.²

AFFAIRS NEAR OCCOQUAN, VA.

Inscription. Click to hear the inscription. Near here on the Occoquan River was Selecman’s Ford, a rocky, narrow river crossing used by both sides during the Civil War. The 17th Pennsylvania Cavalry with 100 men of the 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry crossed this ford on December 19, 1862 to defend Occoquan from General Wade Hampton’s raiding horsemen. On December 28, 1862, a day after General J.E.B. Stuart struck Dumfries and Occoquan, General Fitzhugh Lee’s cavalry brigade encountered 250 men of the 2nd and 17th Pennsylvania Cavalry on a reconnaissance and drove them back to Selecman’s Ford. The Confederate cavalry with Major John Pelham’s horse artillery charged single file across the ford and pursued the Federals two miles into Fairfax County where they sacked and burned a Union camp. The outnumbered Federals lost 2 officers killed, 10 enlisted wounded, and 100 men captured. Stuart’s “Christmas Raid” continued on to Burke Station and Fairfax Courthouse. The Occoquan dam, completed in 1958, flooded the ford site forever.

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MRS. VIOLETT’S FARM-7.30 a.m. March 22, 1863

COLONEL: We have arrived and find officers safe; some of the men escaped. The enemy surrounded these headquarters, dismounted, horses secreted in the woods, at 3 a.m. Supposed to be from 80 to 100. Reserve here consisted of 25 men, balance being on post. Reserve made all the resistance possible. Three men wounded, 1 dangerously. The attacking party retreated toward Selecman’s Ford. I have sent two companies in pursuit. I am under the impression it was a guerrilla force, led by citizens who will be re-enforced on the opposite side of the stream. I know nothing of the force on the other side. Had a scouting party there yesterday; could discover nothing of the enemy. I am in doubt about crossing, and if we do will move cautiously. Companies B, F, and L were on duty here, most of which have been captured. We must be re-enforced, if possible, to-day, in order to re-establish safely our picket lines.

Your obedient servant,
WM. P. BRINTON,
Captain, Commanding.
Colonel R. BUTLER PRICE.

7.45 A. M.
The enemy have crossed at Selecman’s Ford.

HEADQUARTERS PICKET RESERVE,

Mrs. Violett’s Farm, near Occoquan, Va., March 22, 1863.

COLONEL: Immediately after writing the dispatch upon my arrival here, I crossed Selecman’s Ford with about 100 men, and followed the trail of the rebels to near Maple Valley, about 5 miles south of Occoquan stream. Finding that they were at least two hours in advance of us, and our horses being jaded, I thought it imprudent to go farther. I, however sent Lieutenant Edwin Mattson, with 10 good men, to endeavor to find out where they are encamped. My impression is that they have gone to Brentsville. We have not lost more than 15 men in all, 3 of whom are wounded. We have 1 prisoner badly wounded, supposed to be an officer. There were 27 men of the Fourth Virginia Cavalry and the balance citizens. I have established the regular picket line and increased the reserve at this place. I will make a full report this evening.

Your obedient servant,
WM. P. BRINTON,
Captain, Commanding.
Colonel R. BUTLER PRICE.
Commanding Cavalry South of Potomac, Dept. of Washington

ACCOTINK, VA., March 26, 1863.
COLONEL: I have the honor to make the following report:

On Sunday, the 22nd instant, 3 a.m., the reserve of our Occoquan picket, consisting of 25 men, stationed on the Telegraph road, at Mrs. Violett’s and commanded by Lieutenant Clement R. See, Company F, Second Pennsylvania Cavalry, was attacked by a force of the enemy’s cavalry, together with citizens, numbering in all from 60 to 80 men. The enemy did not cross Occoquan stream at any of the regular fords, but between two of our picket posts, at a point where they could not be seen from either. They secreted their horses in the woods, and came stealthily, dismounted and surrounded the reserve. The sentinel on post challenged the advance in the usual manner, and receiving an evasive answer, fired immediately and wounded dangerously the leader of the band, supposed to be Richard S. Farrow (whom we now have as a prisoner). Rapid succession of shots were exchanged, which resulted in 3 of our men being wounded, I fatally. I cannot say what loss the enemy sustained as they carried their wounded away with them, with the exception of Richard, S. Farrow, whom they left at a house on this side of the Occoquan. Our men were overpowered by the superior numbers of the enemy, which resulted in 20 of them being taken prisoners, the balance escaping with the officers. They captured about as many horses as men, and made a hasty retreat to Selecman’s Ford, at which place we had 2 non-commissioned officers and 6 men, who bravely disputed their crossing, and had a sharp skirmish with them, wounding 2 or 3. Our men sustained no loss at this point, but, of course, had to retire, but continued to fire on them all the time they were crossing. I received information of the attack just after daybreak, and immediately went in pursuit. I took 100 men and scouted the country south of Occoquan stream in front of our line of pickets a distance of over 5 miles in almost every direction. We traced the enemy as far as Bacon Race Church, supposing we must have been pressing them closely, as we found carbines, sabers and pistols which had been left by the way. We afterward ascertained that they were at least two hours in advance of us, and had gone to Brentsville at which point our prisoner told us that they would be reenforced and, as our horses were then much jaded, I did not think it prudent to pursue them farther.

I would respectfully suggest that I think it almost impossible to picket well the Occoquan stream with cavalry, as brave men can cross it at any point where the banks on either side are not too abrupt. Our force in only sufficient to guard the regular fording, and the banks of the stream are of such a character as to prevent us from patrolling from one ford to the other.

WM. P. BRINTON,
Captain, Commanding Post.
Colonel R. BUTLER PRICE,
Commanding Cavalry South of Potomac.³

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August 25, 1916 – Historic Fire Sweeps Occoquan

PRISONERS FIGHT FIRE, THEN RETURN

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OCCOQUAN CONVICTS SAVE TOWN
FROM FLAMES WITHOUT ATTEMPT AT ESCAPE

The Washington Times, August 26, 1916, (HOME EDITION)

The honor system for penal institutions stood a remarkable test yesterday when eighty prisoners left their confinement at the District workhouse, fought for three hours a fire that threatened to wipe out the little town of Occoquan and returned to the institution, tired and weary without making any effort to escape.

Leo Beach, town sergeant of Occoquan, said this morning that only the valiant efforts of the workhouse inmates in their sombre convict suits of blue, saved the historic town from complete destruction.

Ralph Whittaker, son of the superintendent of the institution, was in town when the fire was discovered in the old Alton Hotel, occupied by Mrs. J.H. Weedon.

“I saw after fifteen minutes that the fire was going to get away from the bucket brigades,” said young Whittaker this morning, “and I phoned up to the workhouse and told them to hurry down with our chemical engine, which was formerly in the District fire department.

“About twenty prisoners arrived with the chemical, which was hauled down by an automobile. A few minutes they began bringing the men into town in every way they could.

“As soon as they arrived the prisoners began working like Trojans. Not only did they fight the flames, but they brough any amount of property from the buildings threatened by the flames.

“Several of the prisoners were slightly injured by ladders and in other ways, but they kept on fighting.”

Young Whittiker said the men made no attempt to take advantage of the opportunity to secure their freedom. Their whole attention seemed to be on the work of checking the fire, which did $40,000 damage before it was extinguished.

Only fifteen of the eighty prisoners were white men.

The fire yesterday was the first disaster to visit the historic little town, which was settled about 1720, and was one of the haunts of General Washington during his boyhood.

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The following transcripts of the United States Department of the Interior National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places Registration Form dated July 5, 1989, and prepared by Jan Townsend, County Archaeologist, Prince William County Planning Office, May 1989. Entered into the National Register August 18, 1989.

SUMMARY DESCRIPTION

The Occoquan Historic District is comprised of sixty structures situated on the north bank of the Occoquan River. The buildings are predominantly frame, two-story, residential structures although the earliest examples are constructed of stone or brick. Most of the residential buildings date to the late 19th century and are variations of the builder vernacular type, many characterized by German siding and decorative porches. During recent years many of these buildings have been converted to specialty shops. The major commercial structures date to the early 20th century and line Mill Street. Occoquan’s close proximity to Washington DC and its suburbs, it’s convenient access to Interstate 95, and its picturesque setting on the river, have converted the early milling to & to a bustling tourist center.

ARCHITECTURAL ANALYSIS

Geographically, Occoquan is bounded to the south by the Occoquan River and to the north by wooded bluffs. The streets are laid out in a simple grid pattern that stretches up a slight sloping hill to the north. Five major streets, Mill, Union, Commerce, Washington, and Ellicott along with sixty structures comprise the district.

The potential value of the site on a river that opens into the Potomac was recognized as early as 1755 by John Ballendine who hoped to establish forges, mills, stores, and dwellings on the site. As early as 1804 Occoquan achieved the status of an official town. A map which survives from that date illustrates a street pattern nearly identical to the present layout. Over thirty structures are noted on the map including a mill and cooper shop. Few buildings constructed during the town’s settlement years stand today. The most notable survivor is Rockledge constructed by Ballendine 1760. The elegant Georgian two-story, stone house with elaborate woodwork rises from a hill overlooking Mill Street and the river. Damaged by fire in 1980, only the exterior walls remain intact. The most widely recognized structure in Occoquan was a flour mill owned by Nathaniel Ellicot. Illustrated in Oliver Evans’ The Young Mill-Wright and Miller’s Guide, the building was destroyed in 1924. However, the Miller’s house or Mill Museum still stands on Mill Street immediately southeast of the mill site. The small, one story, stone and brick structure above a raised basement covered by a gable roof was erected in the late 18th century or early 19th century. The house is presently occupied by Historic Occoquan, Inc., which uses the building for exhibition space.

Occoquan continued to flourish throughout the 19th century. Both commercial and residential structures remain from the mid-19th century. The ca. 1830 Hammill Hotel, located in the center of the district at the intersection of Commerce and Union streets, is a square, three-story building constructed of five-course American bond brick beneath a hipped roof. Another mid-19th-century building is the Back Stage Dance Supplies Store at 205 Union Street. The main block of the building dates to ca. 1850 and was built as a Quo-story, frame residence sheathed in German siding surmounted by a gable roof.

Evidence of Occoquan’s continued prosperity during the late 19th century survives in the large number of residences that line Commerce and Union streets. Constructed primarily in the builder vernacular tradition, the frame, two-story buildings frequently display German siding and decorative porches. Buildings in the 200 through 300 blocks of Commerce Street are examples of this type. Typical of these houses is 202 Commerce Street, a frame. two-story, five-bay building with a gable roof, the facade decorated by a porch consisting of stylized Doric columns and a sawnwork balustrade. Dating to the same period is 306 Commerce Street, a frame, two-story, three-bay house with a shed roof fronted by a porch supported on chamfered posts with scroll brackets connected by a sawnwork balustrade. A non-residential building constructed at this time is the Crescent Lodge #3 located at 308 Commerce Street. Built in 1889, the massive, two-story, three bay building is oriented with its gable end facing the street. A variety of simple unornamented buildings also exist in the district including 209 Commerce Street, a two story, frame house covered in German siding beneath a gable roof, and 304 Commerce Street, another two-story, three-bay building sheathed in weatherboards.

Fire swept down Mill Street in 1916 destroying many of the town’s major commercial structures. However, a few residential structures which date to the late 19th century still stand at the west end of the street and have now been converted to shops. Among these is 406 Mill Street, a two-story, five-bay building with a porch consisting of turned posts and a decorative sawncut balustrade. Most of the commercial buildings on the street are simple commercial vernacular structures built after the fire.

The district contains few public buildings. Two churches both dating to the 20th century are located within the boundaries. The Ebenezer Church built in 1924 stands on Washington Street while the Methodist congregation constructed their church at 314 Mill Street in 1926. The simple one-story brick building is embellished with a wide overhanging roof supported by strut brackets.

Thus, each major period of Occoquan’s history is represented in its buildings. Well kept, shaded yards surround many of the residential structures on Washington, Commerce, and Ellicot streets; while the shops and commercial buildings on Mill Street are tightly knit and open directly onto the paved streets. The lawns and decorative details of the residential structures, in contrast with the density of the commercial core, create a unified yet varied combination of buildings and building types within the district.

STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE

The site of a tobacco warehouse as early as 1736, the present town of Occoquan in Prince William County arose in the late colonial period as the focus of the commercial and manufacturing activities of John Ballendine, who erected an iron furnace, forge, and two sawmills at the falls of the Occoquan River prior to 1759. The settlement at Ballendine’s “Occoquan Works” emerged after the Revolution as a prosperous flour manufacturing center, which boasted one of the first grist mills in the nation to employ the labor-saving inventions of Oliver Evans. While the silting of the river gradually reduced Occoquan’s stature as a major Northern Virginia shipping point, the town continued to thrive as a center of commerce and industry into the 1920s. The district contains a visually interesting collection of mostly vernacular residential and commercial structures dating from the late 19th and early 20th century, preserving a port village image of that period. Although most of the older buildings have succumbed to the ravages of fire and flood, the few individual survivors from the antebellum period or before include three major landmarks: Rockledge, an elegant Georgian house with elaborate woodwork erected by John Ballendine in ca. 1760; the Mill House, a late 18th-century to early 19th-century dwelling associated with the nationally known Occoquan Flour Mill; and the Hammill Hotel, built ca. 1830, which served as the headquarters of General Wade Hampton during the Civil War. A natural stopping place and crossing point for travelers moving north or south between Richmond and the nation’s capital since the early 19th century, Occoquan with its marine facilities and restored waterside shops and restaurants remains an important travel destination for Washington area tourists.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The history of the town of Occoquan, which means “at the end of the water,” began with the establishment of a tobacco warehouse in 1734 on the north shore of the Occoquan River and the erection of another tobacco warehouse near the site of the present town on the south bank two years later. Throughout the second quarter of the 18th century, petitions for the establishment of a town at this site went unheeded due to political pressure from other parts of Prince William County, and it was not until 1755 that John Ballendine purchased the two tobacco warehouses and 230 acres of land from Valentine Peyton with the intent to build “certain forges, water grist mills, bolting mills, bake houses, saw mills, stores houses and dwellings.”⁴ Ballendine recognized the site’s strategic location at the head of a waterway navigable to the Potomac with a ready source of water power and thus its potential as a prosperous commercial and manufacturing center. By 1759, Archdeacon Burn by visited the “Occoquan Works” and described the iron furnace, forge, and two sawmills.⁵ It was during Ballendine’s tenure at Occoquan that he built Rockledge (National Register 1973, damage by fire 1980), a handsome stone mansion which overlooked his milling operations and which is attributed to William Buckland. It is likely that the stone miller’s house (now the Occoquan Museum) dates from this period. After a decade of prosperity, Ballendine fell on bad times and was forced to sell his Occoquan works to John Semple of Charles County, Maryland in 1765. Semple soon abandoned the iron forge in order to concentrate on the more lucrative merchant flour mills. Little else is known of Occoquan during the remainder of the 18th century except that a toll bridge carrying the main road from Richmond to Washington was authorized by the General Assembly in 1795.

By 1800, Rockledge, along with the milling operations, had passed into the hands of Nathaniel Ellicott, a Maryland Quaker. It was his brother. Thomas, an associate of Oliver Evans, who designed the large flour mill at Occoquan incorporating Evans’ improvements described in The Young Mill-Wright and Miller’s Guide, (1795). Plate XXII in Evans’ book shows Ellicott’s plan for the Mill at Occoquan, with Ellicott’s caption, “This is a mill of my planning and draughting, now in actual practice, built on the Occoquan River in Virginia …,,⁶ This mill stood in Occoquan and was in full operation until its destruction by fire in 1924. Old photographs of the ruins of the mill show the general design of Ellicott’s building. The ruins are barely visible to the northeast of the stone miller’s house.

Accompanying Nathaniel Ellicott to Occoquan was the English novelist, John Davis, who served the neighborhood as a schoolmaster. In 1801 he wrote: “the richness of the adjacent country and the healthfulness of the climate, induced the Proprietor to project the plan of a city and invite strangers to build in it; but his visions were never realized and Occoquan consists only of a house built on a rock, three others on the river side and half a dozen log huts scattered at some distance.”⁷ Three years later, however, Occoquan gained the status of a formal town and it flourished as a commercial and industrial center ‘ for the next thirty years. That Occoquan was early a natural stopping place for travelers between the nation’s capital and Richmond is evidenced by a report from William C. Williams to the governor of the Commonwealth on the siege of Washington, written in 1814 while he was “stopped at Occoquan.”⁸ During this same period Joseph Janney and others built one of the state’s first major cotton mills at Occoquan. Although large cotton mills were common in New England during the first half of the 19th century, few large cotton manufacturing enterprises existed then in the south and in Virginia, where capital for such ventures was scarce. It can be surmised that the profitable Occoquan flour mill, also owned by the Janney family, provided the source of funds necessary to underwrite the cotton manufacturing venture. Describing Occoquan in 1836, Joseph Martin in his Gazetteer stated: “The town contains about 50 dwelling houses, several mercantile stores and various mechanics, a cotton manufactory in complete operation …an extensive manufacturing flour mill…with appendages of grist, saw, and plaster gills. A handsome and permanent bridge is erected across the river at this place …”⁹ Among the surviving structures which date from the antebellum period are a portion of the Back Stage Dance Supplies building at 205 Union Street (ca. 1850) and the southern structure of Blackbeard’s Restaurant at 302 Mill Street (ca. 1860). The house at 406 Mill Street, known as “The Ferryman’s House,” probably dates from the mid-19th century and served as residence for the man who operated the Occoquan ferry at the eastern end of the district, just below the present VA Route 123.

Architectural evidence suggests that one of Occoquan’s most prominent landmarks, the Old Hammill Hotel, at the corner of Union and Commerce streets, dates from the 1830s, although tradition affirms that William Selecman built it in 1804. The hotel achieved fame in the Civil War as the headquarters for Confederate General Wade Hampton during several skirmishes with Union troops in the area. Union forces were able to fire upon Occoquan from an elevated camp across the river on the Fairfax side and succeeded in destroying the Janney’s cotton mill.

Despite the extensive silting of the river that precluded Occoquan’s service as a deep-water port, the town continued as an important commercial center during the period following the Civil War. The Janney’s flour mill continued to thrive, with wheat delivered to the mill by flat-bottomed barges pulled by tugboats. Hammill’s continued to be the hotel listed as the town’s prime hostelry or boarding house in directories for Prince William in the 1880s. Lynn’s Wharf, located at the eastern end of the district on Mill Street, was the site for loading railroad ties and large logs for shipment down the Potomac. Sometimes, according to one oral account, the large logs were bound together and floated down the river. A tannery was located at the top of the hill on Union Street, which by the early 20th century was known as Tanyard Hill. Local directories referred to Occoquan as an “important village”¹⁰ with numerous “merchants” and a saloon. A notable building dating from the postbellum period is the Odd Fellows Hall at 308 Commerce Street, constructed in 1889. The lower floor of the hall served as a schoolroom with a stage that occasionally was used for theatre or opera by stage troupes stopping over at Occoquan en route from Washington to Richmond. The Hall was a meeting place for a number of local social organizations as well as for congregations making plans to build their own church structures. 404 Mill Street (The Golden Goose) is another important late 19th-century structure. It was owned by Mr. Hammill, the hotel operator, and housed Occoquan’s first drugstore. Also dating from the late 1880s was an excellent metal truss bridge that carried the Old Telegraph Road across the Occoquan. Unfortunately, this bridge was washed away in the floods of Hurricane Agnes in 1972. Several commercial structures along Street (304, 308, 404 and 406), together with the residences at 202, 204, 209, 301, 303, 304, 306, 312 Commerce Street all date from the late 19th century, as do the simple builder vernacular houses located on Washington Street near Ebenezer Church. The original Ebenezer Church structure was erected in 1883, the first black-built church in Prince William County. The building burned in 1923 and the present sanctuary was erected the following year. Houses dating from the late 19th century which have now been converted for commercial use include the large structures along Union Street (201, 202, 203, and 204).

Following the destruction of a number of the commercial establishments along Mill Street in a large fire in 1916, the street was rebuilt; now as then, it remains the commercial center of Occoquan. Although Occoquan during the early years of the 20th century attracted some trade from Washington tourists who visited the town by excursion boats,¹¹ Occoquan lost its last major industry with the destruction of the Janney Flour Mill in 1924. With the opening of Route 1 in 1928, the town no longer stood astride the major north-south travel route and its demise seemed assured. By the 1970s, however, Occoquan drew new life as an active marina within view of Interstate 95, and as a growing tourist attraction with boutiques, antiques stores, and restaurants. The town’s merchants are anxious to promote Occoquan as an historic town and have undertaken several efforts toward rehabilitation of its more notable buildings. Occoquan today, is in many ways akin to the Occoquan of the late 19th century–an important commercial village along a major north-south travel route on a picturesque navigable waterway.

MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES

• Flournoy, H.W. Calendar of Virginia State Papers. Volume 8. Richmond: 1890.
• Harrison, Fairfax. Landmarks of Old Prince William: A Study of the Origins in Northern Virginia. Richmond: Old Dominion Press, 1924.
• Historic Occoquan, Inc. A Brief History of Occoquan. (1975).
• Martin, Joseph, ed. A New and Comprehensive Gazetteer of Virginia and the District of Columbia. Charlottesville: J. Martin: Moseley and Tompkins, 1835.
• Mitchell, Broadus. Rise of Cotton Mills in the South. Johns Hopkins University Studies, XXXIX, #2. Gloucester, Mass.: Peter Smith, 1966.
• Nelson, Tom. An Interview with James Woodrow Taylor. Manassas, Virginia: Prince William History Commission, 1982.
• Prince William County. Land Tax Records. 1825-1860.
• Prince William History Commission. “Notes on Old Buildings in Occoquan.” 1970, 1971, 1972, 1979. (typewritten).
• Shepherd, Samuel. The Statutes at Large of Virginia Volume (1803-1807). Richmond) 1836

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1. Connery, William S., Civil War Northern Virginia 1861 (Civil War Series) (pp. 13-16). Arcadia Publishing Inc. ↩︎
2. War of the Rebellion Serial 031 Page 0692-0694 OPERATIONS IN N.VA.,W.VA.,MD.,AND PA. Chapter XXXIII. ↩︎
3. War of the Rebellion: Serial 039 Page 0067-0069 Chapter XXXVII. AFFAIRS NEAR OCCOQUAN, VA. ↩︎
4. Fairfax Harrison, Landmarks of Old Prince William (Richmond: privately printed, Old Dominion Press, 1924), p. 428. ↩︎
5. ibid. ↩︎
6. Oliver Evans, The Young Mill-Wright and Miller’s Guide (reprint ed. New York: Arno Press, 1972), p. 295. ↩︎
7. Harrison, Landmarks of Old Prince William, p. 429. ↩︎
8. H.W. Flournoy, ed., Calendar of Virginia State Papers Vol. 8 (Richmond, 1890), p. 379 ↩︎
9. Joseph Martin, ed., A New and Comprehensive Gazetteer of Virginia and D.C. (Charlottesville, 1835), p. 275 ↩︎
10. Cataigne’s Alexandria directory (1887, 1888), p. 226. ↩︎
11. Tom Nelson, An Interview with James Woodrow Taylor (Manassas, 1982), p. 42. ↩︎